Darkest Secrets
by chinapps22
Summary: This is after the cave scene, Emma has something she needs to say to her parents. This is Captain Swan, read and review. This not a bashing on Snow, I just think Emma is going to take her words the wrong way. Let me know if you want more chapters. Read and Review.
1. Come Together

**AN: I don't own anything, just playing. This is just a quick one-shot I thought of after watching Snow in the cave, I know I would be upset if my mom said something like that. Obviously this is OOC…I may add a second chapter of Snow, David and Emma talking. **

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Walking out of the cave, Emma couldn't hold back the emotions that were slowly suffocating her. First and foremost she felt anger. She was angry at Neal for being alive, angry at David for not telling her sooner about being trapped, angry at Snow for telling her she had to find Neil, and then there was Hook. The pirate who made her feel thing she hadn't felt in years, he made her shiver with just one look, he made her feel safe and protected. Safe. Protected. Those were two things she had never felt before; she always had to be the strong one, the one who never broke down. But with Hook, she could feel her walls falling down piece by piece, she was ready to let him in, but now…now she wasn't sure.

Neal put a hand on Emma's shoulder, "Are you okay?" he asked, but from the incredulous look on her face that wasn't the best question he could have asked. Hook stifled a laugh while Neal retracted his hand and tried his best to give her his most charming smile.

"Am I okay?" asked Emma, "Are you really asking me that right now? Because I'm pretty sure you're not even that stupid to ask a question like that!"

Snow stepped in, "Sharing our darkest secrets wasn't easy Emma, and we can help you. We're family."

"Family! You want to talk about family?" shouted Emma "I come to this Godforsaken island in search of my son because his father fell in love with a psycho bitch and didn't listen to me! Now I've got a seventeen year old boy with a serious attitude problem screwing with me because he got bored one day!" Emma saw Snow about to interrupt but she was on a roll now, "No, you don't get to interrupt me! I need to say this! I'm trying here! I'm really trying to be a daughter but I have no idea how! What do you want from me? Do you want me to call you mommy and daddy, come to you with my boy problems or sneak in the house when it's past ten o'clock on a school night? I know I'm not perfect, I have enough problems to make Doctor Phil call it quits but you talking about replacing me hurts! It really hurts! Oh but wait, that doesn't matter because my father is stuck on the island from hell because nothing in my life can ever go smoothly! I'm tired of being abandoned, I'm tired of people coming in and out of my life because I'm not worth their time or their love. So you know what? Start a new family, have a bunch of kids and leave me out of it. I'm done with this bullshit you people call family!" Emma turned to Neal and slapped him hard, "Why do you keep destroying me? Why can't you ever let me be happy? I finally found someone that I could be with, maybe even love! But no, you have to come in and screw it up like always! Why can't you just let me be happy?"

By the time she was done Emma was breathing hard; tears were rolling down her cheeks. She looked around and saw the pain on her parents' faces, the hurt on Neal's face and the look of shock on Hooks. None if it mattered anymore though, she finally got what she needed off her chest. She walked away claiming she needed to pee but in reality she felt that if she stayed there for one more minute she was going to fall apart completely. The anger was fading and now all that was left was the sadness of being alone. Again.

Emma held her head in her hands trying to breathe, her chest was on fire. It felt like someone had ripped her heart out, she tried to hold onto the anger as long as possible. Anger was easy to handle, it allowed her to push the pain down as far as she could and to ignore it until it was just a dull ache. The scent of rum and salt water hit her like a ton of bricks, she loved that smell, and she didn't even realize she associated it with home until that moment.

"I won't ask if you're alright love, that question seems to spike a bit of anger in you." Hook sat down and put his hand on her shoulder, "Talk to me love, I'm not going anywhere."

Emma put her head on his shoulder, if this was the end of their relationship before it even began; she was going to soak up every bit of the warm feeling she could and savor it while it lasted. "Peter Pan was my favorite book growing up, I always wanted Peter to find me and take me away from foster care. I was seven when I stopped believing in happily ever after. I just knew that I wasn't going to find my parents and since they didn't want me why would anyone else?"

"The way I see it love is that you're stuck with me." Hook smiled at the look Emma gave him. "I'm serious, you think I'm going to stop fighting for you just because Bae is back? You think I'm going to allow him to come between this thing that we have going on? Emma, you mean something to me and maybe we'll fall in love or we'll go our separate ways. I can't tell you the future, but one thing I can tell you is that I will fight for you and for Henry. If for some reason we don't work out, it will be because we both decided that it's not working, you just have to trust me Emma. You have to trust us."

Emma looked into Hooks eyes, could she trust him? Trust him with her heart? More importantly could she trust him with Henry? She decided to take a leap of faith; she would trust him to help her find her son, to make her heart whole again. She kissed him with all the passion she could, this time Hook didn't hesitate in kissing her back. In that moment, Emma knew that she would never regret her decision to put her trust in Hook. He was a lot of things, but he was also a man of honor. Slowly the kiss ended, Hook pulled Emma into a warm embrace silently thanking whatever higher power brought this crazy women into his life.

"We really should get back to them before they start to look for us," mumbled Emma "do you think I should apologize to Snow and David?"

Hook held her tighter, "No you don't have to apologize for feeling the way you do, but heading back could be a good idea." Neither made a move to leave the perfect bubble that they were in, it felt too right to move at that moment.


	2. Daddy Charming

**I decided to add a second chapter, this is Daddy Charming and Emma bonding. I couldn't help it, I love the guy! OOC, read and review, let me know if you would like another chapter.**

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Warmth. Saltwater. Rum. Those three things were making it impossible for Emma to move out of the loving embrace she and Killian were sharing. His strong arms wrapped around her made her forget that they were in Neverland fighting a teenage boy who she was sure would benefit from a wooden spoon to the rear end. She knew that no matter what they faced Killian was going to protect her, he wouldn't let her fall, he wouldn't let Henry grow up the way they did. Somehow she knew that if for some reason she didn't make it off the island, he would be the parent Henry needed. Killian wouldn't let anyone or anything harm him that alone made her want to shout from the highest mountain that she loved this pirate. Love? Her heart picked up when he was around, her stomach did flip-flops when he gave her that smirk, the thought of them not being together made her chest ache. This must be love; she hadn't felt this way ever. Not even with Neal. No, Neal made her feel many emotions but happiness was a rarity. They had their good times, those fleeting moments where Emma was sure he was a good man. But for every good moment there were ten bad moments following. Thinking back on it, she often romanticized the past just to feel better about the awful decision she made, to trust a con, to trust a man who always seemed to be looking over his shoulder. That was in the past now, she wouldn't visit the past again, there was nothing waiting for her and she couldn't be happier about that.

Killian closed his eyes and savored the feel of his love in his arms. His love. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would be able to say that again, he didn't want this moment to end. Of course the moment would end and they would have to face her parents and Neal. But for once he wasn't dreading dealing with something like that, he was honestly looking forward to it. It sounded strange but he knew that for once he wouldn't face the firing squad alone. They would deal with whatever her family had to throw at them; he had faith that the two of them would survive anything. If he was being completely honest with himself, he was looking forward to what Neal had to say. He didn't care if he insulted Emma's hair color or the way she chews her food, as long as he had an excuse to pummel the little shit into the ground. Really he didn't need an excuse but he had an irrational fear that Henry would find out and he would be angry at Killian for harming his father. Killian desperately wanted Henrys approval, if Henry didn't approve of Killian dating Emma; they were bound for a breakup. Killian would never make her choose between the two of them. He mentally snorted, he was a pirate, kids loved pirates. Didn't they? He was getting a little ahead of himself, he still had to face a very protective father and mother. Neal! All he had to do was remind Charming that Neal was the one who put Emma in jail; he would see that Killian was the better choice.

Emma lifted her head and smiled at loving look Killian gave her, how did she get this lucky? Killian dipped his head and kissed her passionately.

"What in the hell is the matter with you? Did you just get out of prison Pirate?" shouted Charming

Emma and Killian broke apart like two teenage kids caught kissing in the back row of a dark movie theatre. Emma looked around hoping that Pan was going to pop out and give them a hard time or something, anything to get them out of this difficult conversation that was bound to happen. Damn that teenager Hell! The one time she wanted the little monster to show himself, he was a no show. Typical.

Killian held Emma's hand tightly silently telling her that she wasn't alone. She didn't have to face things like this on her own anymore. Sure this was her dad, but he knew that Emma was still wrapping her head around the fact that she did in fact have parents that loved her more than their own lives. Judging by the look Charming was throwing at Killian, he was going to die. Very soon at that. Well they had a good run, hopefully Emma would remember Killian fondly and make it off the island safely.

Charming rolled his eyes at the panicked look his daughter and Hook shared, "Can you give us a moment Pirate? I need to speak to my daughter and I wouldn't mind doing that alone."

"It's fine Killian," Emma smiled "this talk needs to happen and I know it will go easier if it's just between the two of us. Father daughter bonding and all that." Killian smiled and kissed her on the head before Charming could give him a death threat he walked back to the campsite.

Charming looked at his daughter, his little girl, the tiny empress to his everything. He would never regret putting her in the wardrobe, he saved her life and that is something he would do over and over again if need be. Looking at her now he can't help but see the similarities that she and Snow share. They're both stubborn beyond belief; both held his heart in their hands without even knowing it. Sure Snow knew that he loved her beyond reason, she knew that given the choice he would never leave her, he would do anything to make sure that she never felt pain or heartache. His daughter on the other hand had no idea how precious she was to him, that his world stopped when she dove off the ship, that the thought of Cora taking her heart made him sick to his stomach. Emma had faced more heartache in twenty-nine years than most adults did in their entire lives. The urge to pull her into an embrace and never let her go was overwhelming, but of course he couldn't do that, that would only cause her to clam up and run back to the camp without them saying anything.

Emma couldn't take the silence anymore, "Are we going to talk or are we just going to stand here like two idiots contemplating their existence in the world?" She internally winced at the bratty sound her voice took on. But if her parents wanted to see what it would have been like to raise her, she would give it to them.

"I know you're upset and you have every right to be, but dammit Emma I'm your dad and you will show me respect. Yes I know, you're an adult and you have become a fine young women and I am beyond proud of you, but guess what? I'm still your dad. Just like Henry is your son, no matter how old he gets, he will forever be your baby boy. You gave Henry up to give him the best life possible. Why? Because you love him more than anything in this world and yeah you could have kept him and given him a good life but you didn't. You gave him up because someone like him doesn't deserve good he deserves great. Just like you Emma. You my stubborn hardheaded daughter deserve nothing but the best."

Emma laughed bitterly, "Really? I deserve nothing but the best? Then why did I live in foster care until I was eighteen? Why was I pushed aside in every home I ever went to? How is it that since I deserve such good things in life, do I always get screwed over?"

"Do you think for one minute that I ever would have sent you into that wardrobe if there was another way of protecting you?" asked Charming angrily. "Emma you are the most important person in mine and your mothers lives. Nothing will ever change that! That night was the best and worst night of my life. You being born was the most magical moment of my life. Holding you in my arms brought me the most overwhelming amount of love I have ever felt. I swore I would protect you at all costs and to do that I had to let you go baby girl. Never think for a single minute that you are not worthy of something because you are. You have been dealt one of the hardest hands a person can have and you pushed through it all. We're family though Emma, it maybe twenty plus years ahead of where we want it, but we're a family and families stick together. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for every bad thing that has ever happened to you, I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you or to threaten guys that you dated, more importantly I'm sorry that I wasn't there to make sure that you grew up knowing how important and deserving of greatness you are."

"Then why don't you and Snow want me? Why am I not good enough for the two of you? Explain that to me!" yelled Emma, she couldn't get over what Snow said, that hurt more than being shuffled from home to home when she was a kid.

Charming felt his heart clench at the hurt in Emma's eyes, "First of all we will never not want you Emma. You are our pride and joy, if I had friends outside of a pirate with a drinking problem and an angry pawnbroker who asks for dating advice, I would brag about you all the time. Never think for one minute that you aren't good enough for our love or our time. Even if we do have another child, you will always be my baby Emma. If you think we're just going to kick you aside, you should think about calling Jefferson and getting some advice on what to do after you've lost your mind. You can't get rid of us that easily, now that we've found you, you're stuck with us. I'm telling you're right now; we won't have more children if that's going to affect you in a negative way. We should be focusing on our small family now rather than making it bigger. Please don't think you are replaceable in our lives Emma, you mean more to us than I can ever express."

"I need you," mumbled Emma through tears, Charming pulled his daughter into his arms, "I need you daddy, you and mom. I need you guys more now than ever. Please don't leave me again, I can't take more people leaving me." Emma allowed her daddy to hold her while she broke down, years of pent up sadness were coming out finally. She didn't care if she seemed childish, she wouldn't give up this feeling of comfort for the world.

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**AN: I do accept prompts for "Once Upon A Time" one-shots stories.**


	3. Talking and Fighting

**AN: OOC, let me know if you would like more chapters****. Read and Review.**

Emma couldn't stop crying; she couldn't remember the last time that she broke down like this. Maybe never? Being in the foster care system made a person grow up faster than anyone would like. She never had a person to lean on like this, never had someone given her a shoulder to cry on without wanting something in return. Emma knew that if she had the opportunity to grow up with her parents she would have been a daddy's girl through and through. Of course she loved her mom, if Emma aloud it she was sure they would have a strong mother-daughter bond, but somehow she felt that she would have gravitated towards her dad more than her mom. Charming had a protective side that he didn't know how to turn off and Emma secretly loved that about her dad. She would never admit it out loud, but having her dad there was one of the only nice things about being on this island. Being strong all the time was becoming harder and harder to do. She would always be strong for Henry, she never wanted him to see her break down and admit that she did have weaknesses. For now though, she would allow her dad to hold her and comfort her, she didn't have to be the strong one and it felt great.

Charming held Emma as she sobbed for her son, for her lost childhood, for the heartache Neal inflicted on her, for the years of abandonment and for the family she didn't know how to accept. His heart ached for his baby girl, how could anyone not want her? He silently vowed that his daughter would never be alone again; he wouldn't allow her to feel unwanted another minute. Sure they would fight and sometimes they wouldn't speak with one another, but they would always be there for one another. The rage he felt towards Neal in that moment was overwhelming, he wanted nothing more than to have five minutes alone with him. If Neal thought for one minute that he could treat Emma like that and get away with it, he had another thing coming. He hoped that Emma would open up to him or to Snow about her past with Neal, Charming wasn't buying that Emma only held resentment towards Neal because of him putting her in jail. Charming just had a feeling that Neal and Emma had more history than they were saying, and when he found out what that history was, Neal was a dead man. He was sure Snow was on his side and so was the drunken pirate. Charming held back a groan; that damn pirate didn't listen to a word he said! Somehow when he said 'stay away from Emma' the idiot translated that into 'go ahead and kiss my daughter whenever you feel like it'.

As Emma's sobs quieted, Charming pulled back slightly to wipe away her stray tears, "I'm not going to leave you princess, I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

"But you are!" screamed Emma "You are leaving me! Don't you see that? Even if by some miracle we get off this island in one piece, you can't come with us! You are stuck here because the water that was used to cure you! So yeah dad it seems like one way or another we'll never get a chance at being a family! You should probably call Pan and ask about real estate options."

Emma tried to pull free from her dads grasp but he wouldn't budge, "No, you don't get to run away from your problems anymore. You're done running Emma, you are not alone anymore, and you have to understand that princess. Before we call Pan about a beachfront house, we're going to find away for me to get off the island. There has to be away, Gold must have some idea of how to go about it, you just have to have some faith. Once you stop having faith, Pan wins. That's what he wants and we cannot allow him to win this fight, we have to keep our family together."

"Did they teach you that in the land of puppy dogs and rainbows where you obviously if not lived but spent your summers as a child?" shouted Emma, "We're in the real world now dad! Well technically not, but that's another thing all together. Not everything happens the way we want it to, we have to accept that bad things are going to happen to us and sometimes family just isn't going to pull through!"

Charming narrowed his eyes, "Stop. You need to calm down right now before you pull yourself into a panic attack. I need to have faith Emma, I can't think about not getting off this island. I can't think about how if I don't I'm never going to see my only grandson grow up. The thought of never seeing your mother again makes me want to fall to me knees and cry, she's the love of my life and I may have to live the rest of mine without her by my side. More importantly, I can't think about never seeing my daughter again. That there could be a chance that I won't get to walk you down the isle, that we will never share a father daughter dance at your wedding. I may never be able to threaten guys that are hitting on you at a get together. One day I'm not going to be there Emma, I'm going to die someday and I won't be able to protect you anymore but I always thought that I would be there for years to come. Now I'm facing a reality that I may lose out on everything much sooner than I ever would have hoped. I'm sorry princess, but right now I need to have faith that I am going to make it off the island with my family."

"I'm afraid," whispered Emma, the very thought of saying it out loud terrified her to no end, "if you stay on the island what happens to our family daddy? Do we just move on like nothing happened? Do we forget about what happened here and never talk about it again? Or do we come here on holidays to see what's new with you and the lost boys? I don't know if I can have the kind of faith you do, I don't know how daddy. I just don't know how."

"You just have to trust me princess, you have to trust me and your mom. We're family and we always come together; nothing is going to keep us apart. Trust me, I have no idea how we're going to get out of this lovely mess, but we're going to. We just have to focus on one thing at a time and right now, we have to focus on getting Henry back and your relationship with the pirate."

Emma gave her dad a big smile, "I love you daddy, and you know that right? And like you said, no matter what happens or how old I get, I'll always be your baby girl."

"But its Hook!" groaned Charming, "Of all the people you could fall for, you fall for an alcoholic pirate?"

"I'm pretty sure all pirates are alcoholics at one time or another. And what's wrong with Hook? He's everything that I want in a man and a father figure to my son. I'm not saying that he doesn't have flaws because he does but they don't matter to me. For once the bad doesn't out weigh the good and I'm happy. I know that when we get Henry back, we're going to be a family, a dysfunctional family but a family." Emma smiled at the look her father gave her.

Charming bit his lip, "What if he doesn't want to settle down with you in Storybrook or even in the enchanted forest? What if what he wants is to travel the seas like he's been doing and only coming to our world once in a blue moon? Is that what you want? Is that what you want for Henry? I'm not trying to pick a fight with you but I don't want to see you sacrifice your own happiness for another person. That's not love princess, that's just being a doormat."

"He wouldn't do that," murmured Emma "I know it's going to sound stupid and juvenile, but with Hook I'm not worried about tomorrow. For some reason, I just know that we're going to make this work somehow and it'll be the best experience if my life. I know that wherever we live, it'll be right for us because we'll be together, the three of us, being a family like we should be."

Before Charming could think of a reply a voice spoke up, "Now that sounds like true love to me." Snow smiled at the look her husband was giving her, Charming knew she was right; it would take time for him to accept that though.

"I don't want to be with Neal," stated Emma "we bring out the worst in each other. And yeah we may have a kid together, but that doesn't mean we belong together. If I were to be with Neal, we wouldn't be happy, we're just two different people and we had our time together and there are reasons why we didn't work. You can't just expect me to fall into his arms because he's alive and somewhat well. Please don't push me to be with him."

"Of course not Emma, I would never force something like that on you and I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. The only reason why I wanted you to find Neal was because of Henry and I know you Emma, if something were to have happened to Neal you would have blamed yourself. I didn't want you to do something that you would regret later on; I should have allowed you to make your own decision. I'm sorry sweetheart; I just want to protect you from feeling more pain. You're an adult and I shouldn't have treated you like a child and taken the decision away from you." Snow looked at her daughter hoping and praying she hadn't pushed her daughter away.

Emma wanted to stay mad at her mom, she wanted to yell at her, to tell her that she was an adult and her treating her like a child was unacceptable. But the little girl that was buried deep inside her desperately wanted her dive into her mom's arms and pretend that nothing had happened between them, that the last twenty-nine years were just a bad dream, but she did have one more thing she needed to ask before she moved past this.

"Are you trying to replace me?" Emma knew what her dad said, but this was her mom and she needed to hear it from both no matter how childish she sounded.

Snow pulled Emma into a hug, "Never! Never could I ever want or need to replace you! Yes I do wish we had been there for your first steps, your first words and even your first date. But if I were being honest, I wouldn't want to be there for them because I know that you would have been in danger and we would have been horrible parents for being so selfish. Please don't think I want another baby to replace you, you hold a place in my heart that no one will ever be able to fill. If we never have another baby that's fine because we have you and you're our baby even if you are an adult." Emma burrowed her head into her moms shoulder, tears of relief fell while her mom soothed her, she could handle being a daughter as long as her parents continued to help her along the path.

"What past do you and Neal share exactly?" asked Charming "I was just wondering what he did to you besides the jail thing, which I will be kicking his ass for later on."

"Please tell us," said Snow "we just want to know a little more about you."

Emma looked at her parents and nodded her head, they had a right to know, "Neal and I were in a pretty difficult relationship. I was younger than him and he always felt that he was in the right; I just listened to him because I felt wanted for once. But Neal also had a temper and when he didn't get what he wanted he would become like a different person. I was just out of the foster care system and it was hard to know how to stand up for myself or to come off as I could handle my own against a guy who could put my six feet under without trying."

"I swear to God," growled Charming holding onto Snows hand "I will kill him and pay the consequences later. Did he hit you Emma? Tell me."

"He didn't hit me, he just talked down to me a lot and it was when he was drunk, I don't think Neal has it in him to actually hit me. Well, that's not true, I don't even know him that well." Emma bit her lip, she was pretty sure Neal was a dead man even if he didn't put a hand on her.

Snow glared at a rock as if it had offended her, "We should head back to the camp and have a little chat with our grandsons father. He obviously needs to learn some respect."

Emma rolled her eyes at her parents, but it felt nice to know that they were going to defend her eve if it was over something that happened years ago. Walking the short distance back to the camp, Emma could see Neal standing by a tree while Hook paced like a caged animal. She couldn't help but smile; he was adorable when he was worried about Emma.

"He loves you," smiled Swan "when you were talking to your dad he kept looking back and wouldn't sit still. He's good for you sweetheart and I think you're good for him."

Emma blushed, "Can we town down the love talk mom? We haven't even got that far yet and who knows if that's even true."

Before Snow could say anything there was a sickening crack heard around the campsite. Neal fell to the ground holding his now broken nose while Charming stood over him breathing heavily, "That's for putting my daughter in jail!"

"I love your father," smirked Hook wrapping an arm around Emma "he's my new best friend."

Charming picked Neal up by the shirt and slammed him into the nearest tree, "Come near my daughter again and I'll make sure you never walk again. Stay away from her and so help me God if you ever hurt my grandson, your going to want to jump off a cliff or a building because I will find you and make you wish you had jumped." Neal nodded reluctantly and sat down on the log by the fire, he knew that when it came to his daughter Charming meant business.


	4. Dark Hollow

**AN: As long as people enjoy, I think I will continue this story throughout season 3. Of course it will be OOC and I will add my own little bits, let me know what you all think!**

Emma couldn't help but notice the tension between her parents; they weren't very good at keeping their emotions hidden. Every time her dad tried to touch her mom, she would flinch away as if someone burned her. Emma never had to deal with parents fighting before but what she could remember from foster care most arguments ended in a divorce. Her parents wouldn't divorce after everything they had been through. They couldn't. They wouldn't. Emma couldn't comprehend her parents not being together, divorce wasn't in those fairytales she read as a child. Emma rolled her eyes, she was getting ahead of herself, first she had to figure out what was going on between the two of them. She knew that her mom was upset her dad didn't tell her about the curse and then about the fault in finding the cure. Her dad could have said something at any point and the fact that he didn't say anything was killing her mom. They were married, their relationship was built on trust and honesty, and you don't keep secrets in a marriage. On the other hand, Emma knew her dad was just trying to keep the focus on finding Henry, trying not to let her mom panic or something along those lines.

Neal was looking exactly at Emma, she had been so lost in thought she wasn't aware that he had spoken, "What did you say? Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"We have to capture Pans shadow to get off the island, it's the only way I can think to get us off the island." Neal looked around hoping from some support, he knew Emma would find some flaw in his plan.

"Is that all?" asked Emma "We just have to capture Pans shadow? Wow, that is an excellent plan. Except for the fact that we can't get within ten feet of Pan without his say so."

Hook grinned, "His shadow isn't apart of him, he can control it form miles away. All we have to do is find his shadow, we won't have to find Pan at all."

"Do you know where the shadow could be?" asked Snow

"I know where to look," smiled Neal "I'm sure I know where it is, Emma and I can find it."

"I'll be coming along, to make sure that Emma is safe and you don't sell her out again at the first sight of trouble." Glared Hook

Emma couldn't argue with Killian's logic, Neal did have a history of selling her out at the worst possible times. She didn't think he would sell her out to Pan, but she hadn't been around Neal in a long time, too long for her to even think about trusting him again. Emma softly snickered, Killian was jealous and if she were being honest with herself, she loved that. He was undeniably sexy when he was protective of her and the jealous look was even sexier than she could ever imagine.

"How long are you planning on giving dad the silent treatment?" asked Emma kneeling down by her mother, "You should give him a chance to explain himself or at the very least for you to yell at him and tell him how stupid he is, that's always fun."

Snow bit her lip, "You need to be careful and I'm not talking about the shadow. Neal still loves you, I know you're with Killian now but Neal still feels like he has a chance to be a family with you and Henry. Having two guys fight for your affections sounds great but trust me, we all need to work together and not try to one up the other. Just…be careful sweetheart, your dad and I won't make it if we lose you again."

Emma hugged her parents and promised them both she would be careful and would try not to instigate too many fights and that they would. Just as Killian was about to walk away with Emma and Neal, David stopped him.

"I know he pisses you off and I know he makes you want to kick his sorry ass all over this island, but you have to fight the urge." David smirked at the eye roll Killian gave him, "You really don't want to be the one to explain to Henry why his dad is dad…for real this time. Just ignore him and hopefully he'll go away."

Killian smirked, "Thanks for the pep talk mate, I'll try not to murder the idiot and I'll do everything in my power to keep Emma safe."

Not murdering Neal was becoming harder and harder as they continued on their walk. Every time he looked at Emma it was with a look of love and he acted as if he had some sort of claim on her. Emma didn't belong to either of them, she was her own person, but if she didn belong to someone it sure as hell wasn't Neal. He wasn't there for her when she needed him the most, granted Killian wasn't there either but he didn't know her then! If Killian had known Emma back then, there lives could have been much different. Killian wasn't naïve enough to think that they wouldn't have ups and downs; he knew that with good times would come bad. Both of them would rather walk away from a problem than actually deal with it that was something he had to tell her would not be acceptable. If they hit a bump, they would push through the problem, not walk around it or turn back; he couldn't walk away from love when life had given him a second chance at getting it right.

As Emma walked away to get the coconut Killian gave Neal a hard glare, "I can't tell you to stay away from Emma but I am going to tell you to back off."

"Back off?" snickered Neal "Did you forget that Emma and I have a child together? If anyone should back off, it should be you Pirate. You think that Emma is actually going to stick this out with you after we all get off this island? Hook, you have no idea who you're dealing with. Emma has trust issues and even when she does let someone in, it's at arms length. You may not like it, but Emma and I have something and even you can't come between that. Keep in mind _Mate_, you're a pirate and Emma is a princess. I've read the stories and watched the movies, you don't win."

Emma came back before Killian could wipe the smug smirk off of Neal's face, "Okay got the coconut, now what?"

"Dark Hollow," muttered Hook "it's exactly what it sounds like. It's the darkest part of the island, not exactly the friendliest of places, no one gets out of it alive. Shadows of Pans victims dwell there."

"Of course," deadpanned Emma "why wouldn't the damn place be called Dark Hollow. This is the island where dreams go to die, lets just get going before I lose what's left of my sanity."

No matter how hard he tried Killian couldn't shake Neal's words; he was only stating the obvious. Killian was a pirate and he really didn't know Emma as well as Neal did. They shared a past, not exactly the best past, but it was more than Killian had. Thinking about it, he didn't know the little things, like her favorite color or what she liked to do when she wasn't saving everyone. He didn't know the important things either, like her birthday. Killian had to stop thinking like this; he needed to be on his game to protect Emma, if anything were to happen to his love because he wasn't focused, he would never forgive himself.

Emma knew the minute they stepped foot into Dark Cove it was not going to be a pleasant trip or an easy trip at that. She kept sneaking glances at Killian; she couldn't help but feel something was bothering him. What could possibly be bothering him? She hadn't done anything, had she? Maybe her dad threatened him or made a comment about how he wasn't good enough for his little girl. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks, Neal. Of course, Neal must have said something when she was getting the coconut. Why did she leave them alone? She should have had Killian grab the coconut and then they could have avoided all this awkwardness.

"Can you hurry up Neal?" Emma knew the wind was making it hard, but they needed to get out of here before something came. She could feel something was coming, she just didn't know what it was.

Neal glared, "You think this is easy! I'm trying Emma!"

"Don't snap at her!" Killian snarled, "Just give me the damn thing, I'll do it!"

Before Emma could smack either one in the back of the head, all hell broke loose. Killian and Neal were both pinned to trees by shadows, Emma didn't have time to react before more came sweeping down towards her. She gripped her sword as hard as she could, trying desperately to fight off the shadows. Emma looked up in horror as Killian's shadow was being sucked out of him, his screaming was like a knife to her heart, she had to save him, she couldn't go on without his unwavering support.

"Killian!" screamed Emma, tears were burning her eyes, she couldn't move a muscle, all she could do was watch the love of her life slowly be ripped apart.

Killian clenched his teeth to stop from screaming, "Get our of here love! You need to leave now! Please love!"

"Listen to him Emma!" shouted Neal, "Leave us! Go!"

Emma ignored both of them, she wasn't going to leave Killian here, she would never leave him behind. Leaving Neal had its perks but she could never leave his idiotic self either, Henry would never forgive her and if she were being honest she wouldn't forgive herself either. Grabbing the coconut she focused on finding Henry, saving her son, holding her son and never letting him go, she needed to light this damn candle to save the one person who has loved her unconditionally, her baby.

Miraculously the candle lit! Emma held it up towards Pans shadow; she watched it as it was sucked into the coconut. It felt like an eternity before Killian and Neal were released from the shadows clutches. Emma flung herself into Killian's arms, she didn't care that Neal was just a few feet away, she needed to make sure that Killian was okay, that her mind wasn't just playing a cruel joke on her.

"I'm alright love," Killian, mumbled into her hair, "you did good. Thank you for saving me."

Emma snorted, "I'll never not save you, you're too important to me, like we already discussed, you're stuck with me and I'm stuck with you. Are you okay Neal?"

"Yeah, thanks for asking, maybe we should get moving before you two consummate your budding relationship in Dark Hollow." Deadpanned Neal

Allowing Neal to walk a few feet ahead of them, Emma gripped Killian's hand, "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"

"I'm a pirate love and you're a princess." Stated Killian

"Right, and you're a damn sexy pirate at that." seeing that Killian wasn't in a joking mood, Emma continued, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Killian kissed her hand, "You deserve someone better then me love, and I'm just a pirate. I've done some horrible things back in the day and I don't want you to ever settle, especially when it comes to someone winning your heart."

"I made my choice Killian. I made a choice and I chose you, it's always going to be you. Don't think for one minute that you're just some pirate because you are so much more than that to me. You're a good man and I'll spend the rest of my life proving that you are worthy of my heart, don't listen to the doubts in your head. Trust me. Trust us." Emma smiled at the look of happiness on his face; she would never tire of that look.

Walking over to Tinker Bells house, Emma couldn't hold back the smile of seeing her parents standing together and not having her mom glaring at her dad or just ignoring him. Before they could form a plan, Emma needed to speak with Neal; he obviously thought they had a chance that needed to be sorted out right away.

"I need to speak with you, over there," Emma pointed to the path that they had just walked up, "I have something's I need to say to you."

Neal nodded in agreement, when they were somewhat in private Neal spoke first, "One day you're gonna have to make a choice between me and Hook. I just hope that you make the right one, the one that benefits Henry the most."

"You honestly think I have to choose?" snorted Emma "There is no choice Neal! I am with Killian, he is the one that I chose and will always choose. I'm sorry that you think we have a shot at working out, but even if Killian weren't in my life, I wouldn't choose you. Neal, I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you, but I don't think I will ever be able to trust you with my heart again. Trusting you is a risk I'm not willing to take. And if you think for one minute that I would ever be with someone that would be a danger to my son, you have lost your marbles. We're done Neal, we've been done for a long time now."

Emma knew that Neal had more to say but at this point she just wanted to be near Killian and her parents, she wasn't sure what was going to happen next but it couldn't be worse than Dark Hollow. Well, hopefully.


End file.
